Several steadfast members led by the Chairman headed off to Yap to see the Mantas and Stone Money of Yap for Chinese New Year 2008. Yes we saw both… end of report.. Just kidding.
We stayed at the Manta Bay Hotel, in Colonia, the capital of Yap. The Manta Bay is the longest established dive outfit on the island and the only dive hotel I have been in which brews their own beer and excellent it was too, as we found out during the daily happy hours from 4:30pm to whenever.
The Manta cleaning stations were in Mi’l Channel and at Manta Ridge at 3, 9 and 20 metres just between German Channel and the exit to reef.
Yes that was the viz at the Manta Cleaning stations, a bit milky due to the run off from the mangroves out to the reef, but good enough! Outside on the reef viz was generally 15-25 metres and very blue.
Hotel rooms were well appointed, the pool was small but nice and refreshing and the bar was close by in the old Indonesian Trading vessel moored just off the dives hop and hotel.
A visit to yap is not complete without seeing the stone money of Yap and native village life. The stone money was quarried in Palau by natives of Yap and bought to Yap at great peril and often loss of life. There are about 23,000 items of stone money all over Yap and they are still used today for important matters such as marriage and contracts. The actual money doesn’t physically move though ownership does change and the story that goes with each piece is often what provides the intrinsic value.
The culture of Yap, (population 22,000), is still village based and retains the village life style. The island does not only offer great diving but an interesting interface with the island village culture. The culture provided a welcome break from the diving and allowed us time to see the local villages, kayak in the mangroves and also visit relics of the second world war Japanese occupation such as Japanese Zero fighters and guns near the old wartime airfield.
But of course there was the diving. We managed to dive the major sites like “Cabbage Patch,” “Yap Caverns” and “Magic Kingdom” on the West and South of the Islands whereas other sites on the East were generally inaccessible due to the strong trade winds blowing. Coral life was vivid and varied and white tip and black tip sharks regularly prowled the reefs.
All in all a great trip enjoyed by all
The Dive Team: Rein, Valerie, Chris and Nick.Nick Swain
February 2008